Two environment organisations have joined forces to bring climate change education to African shores.
South African-based youth environmental organisation, Generation Earth and former US Vice President, Al Gore’s Climate Reality Project have made this a reality.
The Climate Reality Leadership Corps Africa Training took place in Johannesburg. The training aimed to arm trainees with everything they needed to know to be the best climate messengers in their community.
Various experts addressed best practices in communicating the impacts of climate change specific to Africa, the cost of these impacts, and the potential for growing the African market to adopt sustainable initiatives and alternative energy solutions.
The training brings a special focus to the issues that make the African continent particularly vulnerable to the high cost of carbon pollution. Specifically, Climate Reality leaders will explore how climate change affects water availability, agricultural yields, and human conflict and displacement. They will also explore alternatives and low-cost energy solutions that are already reducing the continent’s reliance on fossil fuels and increasing resilience to the impacts of climate change.
The speakers at the conference included some of Africa’s leading climate change activists, including South African-born executive director of Greenpeace International, Kumi Naidoo, Wanjira Maathai, Green Belt Movement activist and project leader at the Wangari Maathai Institute, and Evans Wadongo, executive director and chairman of Sustainable Development For All, based in Kenya.
Other international speakers included Maggie L Fox, president and CEO of The Climate Reality Project as well as Climate Reality Project Founder and Nobel Laureate, Gore.
Founded in 2011, Generation Earth is a youth-focused environmental organisation which works to create a green network for young people. The vision is to cultivate green leaders for the next generation by changing the mindset of the youth to become eco-conscious and aware of how their consumer habits and lifestyles impact on the environment.
Details: www.generationearth.co.za, on Facebook facebook.com/generationearth on twitter @Gen_Earth
